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Pesticides Boost Chances of ADHD A Scientific Study

Exposure to pesticides on commonly eaten fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables appears to boost the chances that children will be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, per a June 2010 research report in Pediatrics.

Youngsters with high levels of pesticide residue in their urine, particularly from widely used types of insecticide such as malathion, were more likely to have ADHD, the behavior disorder that often disrupts school and social life, scientists in the United States and Canada found. Children with higher-than-average levels of one pesticide marker were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD as children who showed no traces of the poison.

• ADHD affects 4.5 million children in the United States.
• About 2.5 million children take medication for the condition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Study size:  measured levels of six pesticide metabolites in the urine of 1,139 children ages 8 to 15 between 2000 and 2004.
• 119 children were included who were diagnosed with ADHD.
• a 10-fold increase in the  metabolites left in the child's body from malathion exposure = 55 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
• Near doubling of ADHD diagnoses among children with higher than average levels of the 6 metabolics
• Children with high levels of dimenthyl thiophospphate are 93% more likely to have ADHD
• Children are at greater risk from pesticides because their young bodies are still developing and they can not metabolize chemicals as well as adults.

"Boucher studied organophosphate pesticides, which account for as much as 70 percent of the pesticide use in the U.S. They work by interfering with the nervous systems of insects, but have a similar effect in mammals, including humans. Most people in the U.S. have residues of the products in their urine." MSN.com